Heard about GhostNet yet? Its very disconcerting because it targets government computers and attempts to forward emails, documents and passwords.
By most accounts (ZDNet, PC World, Forbes, InfoWorld), 103 countries have been infected with GhostNet spy virus.
It all started with the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan leader with offices in India, Brussels, London and New York, asked the researchers to examine its computers for malware.
What researchers find according to John Markoff reports for the New York Times was a government infiltrating, super-strength, spyware-virus controlled by computer based in CHINA!
GhostNet has stolen hundreds if not thousands of sensitive government documents for whom? Some say the Chinese Government.
According to Jeremy Kirk of IDG News, GhostNet primarily uses a malicious software program called gh0st RAT (Remote Access Tool) to steal sensitive documents, control Web cams and completely control infected computers.
“GhostNet represents a network of compromised computers resident in high-value political, economic and media locations spread across numerous countries worldwide,” said the report, written by analysts with the Information Warfare Monitor, a research project of the SecDev Group, a think tank, and the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto. “At the time of writing, these organizations are almost certainly oblivious to the compromised situation in which they find themselves.”
China is not alone in Hacker Spying
Intelligence analysts, according to John Markoff of the New York Times, say many governments, including those of China, Russia and the United States, and other parties use sophisticated computer programs to covertly gather information.
